


Oh Christmas Tree

by Salmon_I



Category: Samurai Warriors (Video Games)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Tree, F/M, Historical Figure as a Character, Religion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 23:58:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16862434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salmon_I/pseuds/Salmon_I
Summary: It was a tree. Correction, a dead tree. In a vase of water. Decorated with strings of nuts and winter fruit. Masamune stared at it dubiously."Oh, ah, you noticed the tree." Tsunenaga was slightly flustered.Masamune wasn't certain exactly how he was supposed to have missed it. Seeing as it was rather ostentatious, and standing in the middle of the greeting room. "I noticed the tree." He confirmed.(Based on some historical data surrounding Masamune Date, his daughter, and his retainer Hasekura Tsunenaga)





	Oh Christmas Tree

**Author's Note:**

> I'm usually more of a Kanetsugu/Masamune shipper but I was inspired to write this several years ago while reading up on historical data for a completely different fic.
> 
> Um... I'm ironically an agnostic. So this is a Christmas fic set in ancient japan about a christian religious practice written by an agnostic. I kinda like how it turned out, so hopefully some of you will too despite that less than glowing introduction.

It was a tree. Correction, a dead tree. In a vase of water. Decorated with strings of nuts and winter fruit. Masamune stared at it dubiously.

"Oh, ah, you noticed the tree." Tsunenaga was slightly flustered.

Masamune wasn't certain exactly how he was supposed to have missed it. Seeing as it was rather ostentatious, and standing in the middle of the greeting room. "I noticed the tree." He confirmed.

"It's a custom. Y'know, from Europe."

Masamune glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Is that so..."

"Yah, part of their... uh, winter celebration."

Masamune sighed. "It's part of a religious celebration, isn't it?"

Tsunenaga didn't meet his lord's gaze. "No, my lord, everyone knows Tokugawa's rules about-"

"The Tokugawa rule Oshu, do they?" There was a hard tone to Masamune's voice.

Tsunenaga looked back immediately. "No, my lord! You rule Oshu, My lord." A moment's pause. "But you passed the law as well."

Masamune sighed again, looking back at the strange European decoration in his retainer's decidedly Japanese manor. "It wasn't a matter of choice."

Tsunenaga did not reply. They both knew it to be the truth. With the failure, his failure, to establish a trade agreement, it had been impossible to detain any longer in passing Tokugawa's ruling. Oshu had once welcomed missionaries, The Date Clan had been more than willing to make their lands a port from which an exchange of both trade and culture could occur. Now that dream was gone. Missionaries were banned, converts hunted down. The tree standing in the room could get him killed, and they both knew it.

"You were only supposed to be pretending you know." Masamune's lips curled into a wry smile. "You were supposed to go through the motions so they were more willing to trade with us. But it went deeper, didn't it?"

When Tsunenaga had gone to Europe, it had supposedly been as a convert. He'd been baptized, given a new name. All in hopes that it would improve the chances of the trade. It was an act. Or that had been the idea at the time. That was what Masamune had instructed of him.

"Are you... displeased with me, my lord?"

Masamune frowned, still staring at the silly tree. "Why would I ever be displeased with you, Hasekura? This is... not something a lord has control over. It's a personal decision." He glanced at his loyal retainer. "It brings you happiness, I hope?"

Tsunenaga paused a moment, surprised by his words. "Yes, my lord. It does bring me a great deal of happiness. It makes me feel as if my life has more purpose."

"Then why should it displease me?" Masamune offered him a smile. "Imbecile, our friendship is not so fragile as that."

A smile lit his retainer's face. "Thank-you, Masamune. I am happy you think that way."

The Oshu lord grew serious, though, the pleasant smile disappearing. "But, Tsunenaga... I can't protect you if the wrong person should discover this matter. I have to do what's best for our people. If I defy the Tokugawa Shogunate..." He left the rest of the words unspoken.

Tsunenaga could remember a time when Masamune Date would have defied anyone. Fierce and proud in his youth, with ambition in his heart. But while others ambition grew stronger over time, Masamune's had been tempered. Dreams of youth were slowly pushed aside for the reality of what he could and could not do. Desire to rule had morphed into a desire to protect what was dear. And what was dear was... his officers, his people, his land. Tsunenaga had found that he, too, had changed. He'd supported Date's dreams of ambition, and now supported him in his desire to protect their lands and people from further hardship.

His smile became melancholic. He understood that his lord could not protect him if the truth was discovered. "I know, my lord. It's alright, we would never hold it against you."

Masamune chuckled. "That would make one of us at least." He commented, then threw an arm around his retainer's shoulders. "Imbecile. Come, let's talk about something besides your silly tree."

 

* * *

 

 

  
"Do you really think anyone will know what it means?" Megohime asked him later that evening. He glanced up from the book he was looking through. A European book, many decades old now. One of the many things he had to hide whenever Tokugawa's men paid him a visit.

"I doubt it in one way. But who can say?" Masamune shrugged.

"And you truly aren't displeased with him?"

"That question again. Why would I be displeased about it? Does it change him in some way? He is who he always was, I just know something more about him now."

"Arguements of Faith have caused many problems over the histories, though. People feel strongly for one way, and believe the other must be mistaken." Megohime spoke slowly, thoughtfully.

"People who feel strongly about any belief think others are mistaken. Be it a belief in Faith or any other ideal." Masamune shrugged. "To be too strict makes one brittle. That which is brittle breaks. One must be able to bend with the changes."

"Rectitude carried to excess hardens into stiffness; benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness." Megohime quoted with a smile.

Masamune snorted. "Say something right once, and nobody lets you forget."

His wife chuckled. "Truly, though, I don't think I'll ever understand their beliefs."

"Is understanding necessary to accept? If it gives their life joy and meaning, then how can it be a bad thing?"

"I'm glad you think that way."

Masamune paused, glancing at her suspiciously. If another had said that, it might simply be a way to end the conversation. But he knew Megohime too well. She was broaching a subject. "Oh?"

"Well, Tsunenaga isn't the only one amongst our ranks who... holds that belief."

Avoid the term, avoid the consequences. He wasn't a convert unless the word was said aloud. A belief wasn't banned, after all, a belief could be a belief in anything. As long as nobody said the religion, no action was necessary. A dance around the subject. But this was all old news. If Megohime was bringing this up, it must be closer to home. He considered what it might mean for a moment. "This is about Irohahime, isn't it?"

Megohime offered him a small smile. "She grew up with constant visits from Padre Sotelo."

"That's why she won't marry again, isn't it?"

Megohime sighed. "I'm guessing that to be the case, though I've never broached the subject directly. You aren't displeased with her?"

"Have I not already gone over that? If it brings her happiness, than it is fine."

"I told her that would be your opinion."

"...does that mean we have a dead tree in our manor, too?"

"Not yet. But I'm sure it would make Irohahime happy if we did. I wouldn't be opposed to the idea. I think it sounds pretty, and it will smell nice." Megohime grinned.

Masamune rolled his eye. "We can get a tree."

_Fini_


End file.
